I will be using Rocksmith and Justin guitar to learn and am looking for any and all advice. I don’t have an amp yet but I’m sure that’s fine.
I will be using Rocksmith and Justin guitar to learn and am looking for any and all advice. I don’t have an amp yet but I’m sure that’s fine.
No amp is totally fine to start, and it’s better to practice unplugged and save up for the best amp you can buy for your needs.
My advice is to do the learning on Justin Guitar, and the fun practice on Rocksmith. If you can, find some local peeps that are also starting to learn and that will accelerate your learning big-time.
Thank you for the advice. Rocksmith has been fun so far but I feel like I’m making up too much which is fine for a game but probably not for long term learning/progression.
I am leaning towards the Boss Mini Katana 7 watt amp. Seems affordable and feature-rich.
Justin guitar will give you the technique and knowledge, Rocksmith will give you the repetition and muscle memory. The Katana is dope, though blackstar makes a fun little practice amp too. For a practice one just try to find something used on FB marketplace or Reverb.
My god was this ever useful. I’ve been checking out FB marketplace since and it is a gold mine. I’ll probably get an amp off of there.
Awesome man, I’m glad I could help! Remember you’re going to be moving on from your first amp at some point, same with the guitar. I would just get solid pieces to learn on and save for the pro stuff later. A small practice amp that you can easily move room to room is awesome when you start since it can make your first easier to pick up and play anytime you’re chilling out. Make sure it has a way to plug in some headphones so you can practice without waking anyone that might live with you. Always do the bulk of your learning/practice with a clean tone so it’s easy to identify any mistakes. Throw on the effects when you are having fun or finding your tone.
Depending of course what you’re doing and and what you’re aiming for, it’s perfectly fine. I’ve learned most from improvisation - if it sounds right, it’s right, you really shouldn’t be too rigid and analytical and technical. Again depends on what you’re playing, but too many starting players of any instrument focus too much on “playing right”. “Playing right” doesn’t mean in any way limiting your creativity and imagination (unless you’re aiming to be an orchestra player).
If you’re playing classical music or black metal or something then sure, it’ll do you good to learn where the scales are etc., but if you really feel like “adventuring”/“exploring”/improvisation is more your thing, go for it. There is nothing there that might hinder your ‘long term’ learning or progress, everything, every concept and thing you can learn from focusing on more “technical”/analytical stuff is there to be learned from anything you can listen to, just by listening. It might be easier for someone to learn from musical theory (and it is a great format to share and learn ideas), but that’s simply not the case for everyone. Just play. Don’t be a gearhead, it’ll do wonders for your sound and playing.
e: typos/autocorrect
Thank you so much for this. I don’t plan on being in an orchestra or even playing shows so I can just have fun along the way. Amazing 😅
No problem. Like, they literally have these tests (the name escapes my mind right now) in conservatories etc where you just, play and let loose, just improvise, not like a solo, just, play some shit along with the piece. I never really got good at reading music, but I understand all/most of the concepts transmitted and I always felt like I was dragging my feet trying to force myself to think more technically and analytically. Ever since I stopped I’ve written more songs and music much more amazing than I ever did before. Like I even go to lengths to avoid it and tune my string instruments into all these weird fucked up tunings so I don’t even learn to rely on muscle memory, because it will happen - so I’ll just find the sounds that are right.
Sure you can make songs at an amazing pace and sound like the fucking Beatles if you follow the circle of fifths and stuff, but the soul of it is somewhere completely else in my opinion. You can hear it, you feel it when it’s right. Follow that intuition and fuck the rest. There’s a threshold in music theory up to which, if you learn (and you absolutely don’t have to) can help you - basic concepts: what are intervals, scales and the very basics of how chords are formed, but really you play with your ears.
If you think about some of the most amazing musicians, they started with shitty broken down instruments. Like with blues, people literally started with just a goddamn wire strung up on a piece of wood with two nails and they’d become some of the most amazing players in the world. Or players literally growing up playing with a guitar that has just a couple of strings and when they got good enough their teacher gave them a guitar with all six. You don’t need all that bullshit to play and be great or let alone enjoy yourself and the music you make. All you need is a fucking string nailed to a board and creativity. Let it fly. Follow that intuition.
Sorry for these walls of text I’m not on mobile.
e: I’m sorry I can’t give you a link right now, but I highly recommend looking up people, kids, literally kids from like Africa, there’s plenty on Youtube, that are playing on instruments they literally whittled from shitty pieces of wood with like, knives or something that play these shitty instruments they made, better than anyone you know. Instruments that absolutely “sound like crap” with probably fingers filled with splinters when people who have had great instruments for all their life couldn’t carry a tune to save their life, because you can find a good sound and tone and touch from even the worst instruments. And don’t let it be disheartening, let it be a testament to the raw power of creativity and imagination, because that’s what it is. Creativity manifesting itself in it’s purest form!
I love this. I know the exact videos you are talking about. Those kids smash it without real instruments.
I love this spirit and energy and it definitely speaks to how I want to tackle this new lifelong challenge and joy.
Thank you so much for sharing.
For rocksmith, did you get the cable or are you playing via mic?
I did pick up the cable.